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Address:
465 Huntington Avenue
Location:
Avenue of the Arts
Phone:
(617)267-9300;369-3306
Hours:
Mon-Tues: 10am-4:45pm; Wed-Fri: 10am-9:45pm; Sat-Sun: 10am-5:45pm
Cost:
Adult: 12.00
Child: Free
Senior: 10.00
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Overview Inside Tips
Like New York’s Metropolitan and Paris’ Louvre, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) is a megalithic edifice housing great collections from myriad epochs and cultures. One would need strong legs and endless hours to cover more than a fraction of this world-class museum’s treasures.
From Buddhas to mummies to European musical instruments, from ship models to ancient Greek vases to early modern masters, this vast emporium of fine and decorative arts offers aesthetic pleasures for nearly every taste.
Among the museum’s strengths are its permanent collections of 19th- and early 20th-century American painting, a large representation of regional artists like Edward Hopper and John Singleton Copley, and European painting from the Renaissance to Impressionism. Among the decorative arts, collections range from colonial American furniture to English silver to costumes and textiles.
Under the tutelage of the renowned Kakuzo Okakura, author of the classic, The Book of Tea, the Oriental collections of the MFA became world famous early in the century. Okakura stressed covering systematic ranges of art rather than acquiring isolated pieces. Today, you can wander among early Chinese old master paintings or swords from feudal Japan, visit the meditative and mysterious room of the Buddhas or the contemplative Tenshin-en ('Garden in the Heart of Heaven).
A continuously changing series of lectures, concerts, performance, and film programs keeps the museum lively and modish. Meals and snacks are served in The Fine Arts Restaurant and several cafes. Guided walks and gallery talks are available frequently.
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